10 Ways to Get a Reader Excited About Your Book

10 Ways to Market Your Book

You only took a pen in your hand but already imagine yourself on the top of bestsellers list, bathing in praise and honor. Your fans awe your way of writing; other writers think of you as a role model and all publishers want your creative writing to be published at their company.

Nice image. Now get down to earth.

The reality is – you are still sitting in your house with a pen in your hand.

So, be more creative, start writing something already.

Do What You Like

Let’s imagine you are a writer, who wants to captivate as many readers as possible. No doubts, you will start the introductory part with “Dear readers” and end it the same way. You will surf in Internet asking Google for the most popular genres of writing among all ages and occupations to reach the widest group hoping to hit the jackpot.

On the one hand, you are acting reasonably as it is exactly what we all would do if we were writers – apply to readers, look for the winning combination. On the other hand, ask yourself “Is it really what I want to write about?” If yes, you are lucky, do not continue reading this abstract and better go on to another one. If your answer was “No”, then you are in trouble.

There is nothing more explicit than a writer’s genuine disinterest in a topic.

So, to avoid getting into a trouble called “writer’s depression” you need to be genuinely engaged in this process of creating a new story. Yes, I am telling you to be an egoist and write what YOU like, not what others want from you. But do not turn up your nose too early.

Think of people who you will write to. If you feel they will be satisfied with your own thoughts, you are a lucky one!

Develop Your Personal Style of Writing

If you chose to become a professional writer and earn your daily bread with this occupation you were definitely inspired by some other famous authors. No doubts, every writer you were admirably reading while being young had a special style of writing that could help you to distinguish him/her from others. But now you are to discover your own writing skills and it is extremely hard to make it unique at first.

Do not worry, at the beginning you will involuntarily try to sound like your favorite writers (at best). It happens to all writers, who only start going their way in a writer’s world. As soon as you work longer and persistently improve your writing skills you will develop your own style of writing. But, in no case, shall you think of it as something that will come by itself.

Pay attention to common author’s mistakes, look up for reviews of your book and consistently try out new ways of writing and hone your skills until you find one that will apply to you the best.

Make Book’s Characters Cause Any Emotions

A bad character is not a dead character. It is a boring one.

Make readers sympathize with positive ones and truly loathe negative ones. Do not make them Only in this case they will feel what you wanted to express with your story. Moderately put in every character you want to not to make the reader overwhelmed with this number (unless you are Leo Tolstoy with his famous “War and Peace” so people will like you a priori). The secret of his success was not a huge amount of characters, whose names you forget as soon as you turn the other page, but the unique ability to keep a reader actively interested in their personalities, feelings, reactions and live their story along the whole plot.

Let’s just say, if you insert a new protagonist, whose main task is to…. save the world for example, you make this character smart and brave enough to compete with enemies and become a world hero with a blinding smile and glossy hair. You can also make him weak and permanently doubtful in his skills, though developing his merits according to occasions he gets in. But in no way cannot your main and additional protagonists or even antagonists be null and void.

Show their best or worst sides and readers will love or loathe them, it is up to their taste, at least they will not fall asleep reading your book.

Make It Alive

The main goal of this aspect is to show your ability to make the reader feel every thought or action you describe in a book and compare it with their own as only in that case they will sympathize the author. That is why a real reader can define books as “simply interesting” and “truly amazing”.

Note! There is no difference in writing a fantasy or a historical novel. Whether you create a fictional world of dragons and goblins or describe a real-time situation, your plot needs to sound natural and appropriate to your readers. The characters and their actions must look reasonable and their words have a nice ring to your book. The winning approach will be such a character, with whom a reader can associate himself/herself or surroundings.

Surprise Them

A really good author can make his/her readers have no idea about the next step of the characters. Even if the end of the story is already obvious a writer can make the core part truly unpredictable. The main point is to keep this intrigue and let readers guess what will happen next.

Main features of a professional writer are following:
• Elegant and remarkable style of writing;
• Bright characters that catch up once you start reading and do not leave till the last line;
• Do not write for everyone and each one. Listen to what readers say but also find your own public.

Books Every Writer Should Read

Marie Arana. The Writing Life: Writers on How They Think and Work

This book includes more than fifty different writer’s experiences of writing, their achievements and pitfalls as well as every aspect of a writer’s life. Must read.

Annie Dillard. The Writing Life

This book is considered to be one of the best books on writing. It touches the most important stage of becoming a writer – mastering the craft. I would definitely recommend to read it for everyone who perceives writing as a serious profession, not just a hobby.

Stephen King. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

A “father” of a new horror genre, one of the bestselling authors has published another award-winning story of his own life from a newcomer, struggling in life, to the most famous author of a century.

These are only some of useful books to make your skills “rise and shine” but the build a core of your learning process. With some of them you may agree, others will give you new knowledge or a better experience in most common writer’s mistakes.

As soon as you decide to get the ball rolling your own competence will improve and you will be slowly but confidently achieving success.

Writing is endless job. It is never finished. But it does not have to be. Just give it a try.

Author BioJoe Baldwin is a native US resident & professional Article writer for essaylook.com. He studied English literature and creative writing.

He has experience with online web content including blogs, web page content, news, public relations, press releases, and long form sales and industrial presentations.